GN Store Nord buys gaming company Steelseries in $1.25 billion deal

October 6, 2021

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Danish hearing aid and headset maker GN Store Nord said on Wednesday it would acquire gaming gear company Steelseries from Nordic private equity company Axcel in a deal worth 8 billion Danish crowns ($1.25 billion).

“We have for some time searched for the right way for GN to enter the very interesting gaming market, being keenly interested in the ‘high-end’ segment,” said René Svendsen-Tune, chief executive of GN Audio, the company’s headset unit.

Steelseries employs around 350 people in offices in Denmark, France, the United States, China and Taiwan, and had a revenue of 2.2 billion crowns last year.

In the first half of 2021, Steelseries posted revenue of 1.3 billion and an earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) margin of 14.0%.

GN said it expected to reap operational synergies from the merger of about 150 million crowns annually by 2022.

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close early next year.

GN Store Nord on Tuesday cut its 2021 revenue growth forecast for its hearing aid unit to around 16% from 25% citing postponed product launches, sending its shares down.

($1 = 6.4225 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Louise Heavens and Edmund Blair)

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